Jarrod Croker is poised to become a Canberra Raider for life after agreeing to what will be a record-breaking contract extension on the eve of the NRL season.
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Croker signed a new four-year deal on Thursday morning, giving the Green Machine a timely boost for their round-one clash against the Gold Coast Titans.
The co-captain is already the second-most capped player in Raiders history as well as being the highest try and points-scorer.
He will smash Jason Croker's games record by the time he gets to the end of his new contract, which could see him reach 377 games excluding finals.
Croker has signed to stay in the capital until at least the end of 2024, effectively making him a one-club player given he will be 34 when he is next on the open market.
"Very excited to announce I'll be extending my time at this great club for another four years," Croker said.
"This club is everything to me and I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to hopefully be a Raider for life."
The Goulburn junior has been one of the first Raiders picked since making his debut as a teenager more than a decade ago and could become the third-highest point-scorer in NRL history this season.
Croker has never been off contract during a season in his 11 years and the often under-rated centre can avoid any off-field distractions as the Raiders focus on grand final redemption.
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The Raiders have already re-signed Jack Wighton in the wake of the club's charge to the grand final, while Nick Cotric is also deep in negotiations to extend his time in green.
Coach Ricky Stuart has managed to keep the bulk of his grand final squad together, losing Jordan Rapana (Japan), Joey Leilua (Tigers) and Aidan Sezer (England) from the 2019 group.
The fact Croker, Wighton and Josh Hodgson have made long term commitments gives Stuart a solid core to build sustained success.
The Raiders will be chasing finals spots in back to back seasons for the first time 16 years when they begin their campaign against the Gold Coast Titans on Friday night.
The match looms as a danger game for the Raiders given the Titans have finished in the bottom three in each of the past three seasons.
Many expected the clash to be a mismatch between last season's beaten grand finalists the Raiders and the wooden-spoon Titans.
But Stuart is wary of a Gold Coast revival given new coach Justin Holbrook, a former Canberra Raiders Cup coach of the year, has arrived to rebuild the club.
"Anybody who feels as though they know the result moving into a game from a spectator point of view doesn't understand how difficult it is in the NRL," Stuart said.
"You've only got to have a little bit of an off day or two or three players not turn up, and all of a sudden you're in danger.
"The Gold Coast have a new coaching team and new players. They've been criticised very heavily and they'll want to show their players and supporters it's a brand new year and they're ready to play.
"We're no different, we want to turn up and play our best."
Stuart expects the Raiders combinations to take time to click after a change to the right edge and adding George Williams at halfback.
"What will be fixed for us is the more games we play the better we'll be," Stuart said.
"Our right edge needs more football, George WIlliams has adapted really well with the short bit of time he's had with Jack and the team, but the more game time we get, the better we'll be regarding those combinations and players."